DONALD Trump election aides were forced into damage control mode yesterday after a quest comedian at his New York rally called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage".
Tony Hinchcliffe's comments in front of 20,000 MAGA supporters at Madison Square Garden left both Democrats and Republicans furious.
It sparked an immediate backlash with stars including Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny, who are all of Puerto Rican heritage, calling out the Trump campaign and urging their fans to support Democrat Kamala Harris.
Hinchcliffe, one of many speakers before Trump took the stage at the arena on Sunday night, told the crowd: "There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico." The Caribbean island, although neither a state nor an independent country, is a US territory.
Hinchcliffe also suggested Latinos loved making babies" and made crude comments targeting Jews and Black Americans - all key voter groups in the election.
TOWELS
The event was designed to deliver a strong closing message for Trump ahead of next Tuesday's presidential election but ended up drawing a severe backlash.
JLo, 55, who has 250 million Instagram followers, posted a video of Harris with a screenshot of her plan for helping Puerto Rico.
Fellow native Martin, 62, who has 18 million followers, did the same, as did music superstar Bad Bunny, 30.
This story is from the October 29, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
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This story is from the October 29, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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